The Art of Giving and Taking Lives
by SCIK1012
Summary: Something has taken over the princesses' minds, turning them viciously evil. On top of that, Finn has disappeared and the Vampire Queen decided to abandon everyone with no apparent reason. With Ooo slowly drifting into chaos, it's up to the only non-aligned Princess and the two incorrigible Earls to find out who or what is behind all this madness.
1. I: One Gem to Rule them All

**The Art of Giving and Taking... Lives**

**I: One Gem to Rule them All**

As her lids were opened slowly to bring some light into her amber eyes, a blurry image of a metal wall and a wide transparent window appeared before her. Feeling the coldness of the peach-colored ceramic floor against her cheek, the confused girl decided to sit up and summon her memories, hoping to find a clue of where she was. A sharp pain struck her brain; she was unable to remember the events of the past few hours.

Flame Princess raised her head and analyzed her surroundings. The fire elemental was alone, trapped within four hardened walls of the strongest candy steel and only one window to what seemed to be the dungeon's hallway. No matter where she laid her eyes on, the fiery princess couldn't seem to find a way out of that sugary cell. Frustrated and most of all, angered, Flame Princess banged her fists against the coolness of the candy floor, causing some tiles to bend inwards while their edges popped outwards slightly.

The stubborn girl ended up inflicting more damage on herself than on her prison. As the pain grew all through her crushed knuckles, Flame Princess stopped her useless escape attempt to check on her probably bleeding hands, noticing with surprise that they were wrapped in tin foil. Her aching mind was suddenly struck by a faint memory. She caught a glimpse of Finn's smile and heard his voice echoing inside her head: _"You know what, Princess? I—…" _

"What, Finn?" Flame Princess asked aloud "What were you trying to tell me? If only I could remember…"

"I see you're finally awake, number 55…!" a female voice chuckled, being her voice slightly drowned by the window's surface.

The young princess had no difficulty in recognizing the bubblegum woman that was standing before her. Long pink gummy strands of hair hung down from her head, which was crowned with a golden tiara with an oddly gleaming gem on its top. She was wearing a white lab coat and grey plastic gloves on her hands. There was a clipboard beneath her right arm and she grasped quickly to write some notes on it while she spoke in terms that Flame Princess, or pretty much anyone, couldn't understand.

"Test subject number 55 reacted to the stimulating shocks on her brain tissue at 12:35 am and recovered her senses at 1:24 am. Her nerve cells' traveling speed is highly faster than test subject 11's neurons and fairly comparable to test subjects 44+ and 44-'s lack of brain malleability. The question remains… Why hasn't she replied to _the call_?"

"Hey you! You're Princess Bubblegum, right?" the fiery girl asked as she approached the window "Quit your weird jibber-jabber and get me out of here, please!"

Finn had told her what a wonderful and amusing person Princess Bubblegum was. The human boy always described her as the smartest princess in Ooo and he assured her that if she ever needed something, she could surely ask Princess Bubblegum for help. Flame Princess stared at the pink scientist anxiously, for such a benevolent person her eyes depicted coldness and the smirk seizing her embellished lips sent chills down her burning spine. The red-haired girl felt uneasy, Bubblegum's silence was driving her crazy and the ominous glow on her tiara's gem evoked an air of malevolence around her that she couldn't ignore.

"Y-you are Princess Bubblegum, aren't you? The same one that Finn used to talk me about or are you…?"

"Silence, 55!" Princess Bubblegum commanded harshly "I'm the one making the questions here! Now tell me, why do you refuse to accept _the call_? Why don't you wanna share the glorious cause that all your fellow princesses are following?"

"Stop calling me like that! I have a name, you know?!" the young princess growled, her flames burning hotter "Listen, I don't know what are you talking about! All I know is that I just woke up inside this cell and I want to get out of here, now!"

"Humph! There's no place for rebels like you in our perfect plan…" Bubblegum declared, "The only possible function that you serve is to remain as a test subject. You're a lab rat, nothing else."

The scientist walked away from Flame Princess' cell as her enraged fire threatened to melt the candy walls around her. The sound of Princess Bubblegum's heels was suddenly silenced as she turned around to face the elemental one more time.

"It's no use, number 55…" Bubblegum said, "That cell was built specially for you, it can contain the rage of any fire elemental in the most sufficient way possible. I recommend you to save your energy for later…" she gave her a vicious grin and then continued to walk away "You'll need it to survive the resistance experiments that I have prepared for you…"

The fiery girl followed the pink scientist with her sight until she vanished in the darkness of the dungeons' corridor. Flame Princess couldn't believe that she was condemned to be nothing more than a lab rat with no idea of what had happened to her before she woke up in the Candy Dungeons. The tin foil in her hands told her that Finn had probably been with her when the unknown dreadful events that dragged her to that place ocurred. She wondered if he was one of the other test subjects that Princess Bubblegum mentioned earlier.

With no warning, some silent lava tears started to roll down her bright golden cheeks. There was no escape and she feared for the well being of Finn and Jake. Princess Bubblegum was acting out of herself; Flame Princess could feel it, something was controlling her and she was certain that the strange glow of her tiara's gem was related to her strange behavior. Running her tin-foiled fingers through her short flickering hair, the burning girl asked herself what was _the call_…

"Wipe those thick tears away, Princess…" a voice whispered behind her "There's no time for sorrow or angst, you must act now if you wish to save the one you love."

"Huh? Who's there?!" Flame Princess roared, igniting her fire offensively "How did you get inside here?!"

A short round man was standing in the middle of her cell. He was wearing a blue suit with a red tie, and a pair of gloves and shoes of the same color. The scent of sweet mint filled the air as the mysterious candy made a small polite bow and offered her a silver robe and a folded piece of paper.

"It doesn't matter how did I appear right before you, your highness" he said "What does matter is the information that I have brought with me and what you'll do with it after I leave. My name is Peppermint Butler and I'm Princess Bubblegum's most loyal servant…"

"Sorry, but you just made yourself more threatening with those last words…" the young princess hissed as she unwrapped her right hand with the intention of using her powers on him.

A confident smile graced his red-stripped features "I now see why Mr. Finn is so interested in you. Only a foolish adventurer wouldn't appreciate that fearless attitude of yours, hehe!"

Flame Princess extinguished the dancing flames in her hand and stared at him in astonishment "You… you know Finn? Where is he? Is he alright?! What about Jake?!"

"Hmm… Mr. Jake is also trapped inside this dungeon; he is the test subject number 11 that Princess Bubblegum mentioned earlier…" the butler noticed Flame Princess standing up impulsively and stopped her from doing so "Don't even think about it, you can't save him!"

"Then what I am supposed to do, huh?" the girl replied anxiously.

"You must follow my instructions, only relying on me will give you a chance to escape and save your friends. Believe me, is not for Jake that you have to worry about, but for Finn. He's in an even greater danger from which he won't be able to escape alone!"

Flame Princess sat down, giving Peppermint Butler a concerned frown "You want me to trust you? How do I know this isn't some kind of twisted experiment? How do I know that Princess Bubblegum didn't send you?"

"Because we are both looking forward to the same goal, you want your boyfriend to be safe and I want the sweet Bubblegum back, and to do that we need to take down one enemy in common."

"Who?"

"Who or _what_… You'll learn that soon." Peppermint Butler assured, giving her the two mysterious items "My time is getting short, Princess Bubblegum must be preparing herself for the Grand Meeting of Ooo's Royalty that will be taking place in a moment, and I must be there with her. In the meantime, I want you to find a way out and reach the Candy Tavern as fast as possible. Tell 'em that 'Zebrahead' sent you."

"A tavern?" Flame Princess asked.

"Yes, use that robe to hide yourself from the townsfolk. It's not inflammable and it will keep you from melting the whole place besides covering your identity." The butler rubbed his chin for a moment in a thoughtful manner "Talking about your identity, you'll need a nickname like mine… You can't be addressed as a princess anymore, it's way too dangerous!"

"Why not? What's going on?"

"Everything is on the paper that I just gave you," Peppermint said "From now on you'll be referred as Red Jay, okay? Read my instructions and do as I said… I must leave now, good luck…"

Flame Princess unfolded the paper to check its content, when she raised her sight to continue interrogating the butler he was nowhere to be seen. She sighed knowing that there wasn't anything else for her to do, if Finn was in danger she'd have to carry on with the few clues that were given to her and move on. The young princess warped her right hand with the tin foil once again and covered her body with the silver robe, hiding the gem on her forehead with its hood. Then she proceeded to read Peppermint's instructions carefully.

_Flame Princess, please forgive my dear mistress for what she has done to you. She is unable to control her actions; the gem on her tiara is manipulating her as well as the other princesses. They have all responded to "the call", which seems to be a mysterious force that resides within their royal gems. Strangely, you're the only one who hasn't been affected by this force and so you have been considered as a rebel and a menace to the "Great Plan". I suppose that "the call" is unable to turn you evil because of the instability of your alignment, which makes you our only hope. _

_If you wish to know what this mysterious force is, you must look for a friend of mine in the Candy Tavern. He responds to the nickname "Soul Crusher", find him and he will let you know all the details of this so-called "Great Plan" and the source of "the call". It's a shame to tell you that Finn has been used as a tool to carry out all these vicious movements, without a hero it has become your duty to stop this madness before it's too late!_

_There's a map of the Candy Dungeons in the bottom of this note. With some effort you should be able to remove the fourth tile of the fifth row on the floor to dig your way to freedom. The ground is made of peanut butter candy, so it will be easy to melt it away with your fire breath._

_I'm counting with you, Flame Princess. From now on you're part of our secret organization, "the Omniscient"._

_Best of lucks, _

_Zebrahead~_

Though nothing was easy to understand, the new Omniscient member, "Red Jay" was determined to escape and save her boyfriend, no matter what. Flame Princess giggled thanking Glob for her good luck when she crouched to remove the tiles of the floor. Fortunately, she had already weakened the specified pieces of ceramic on the note during her earlier rage, so the still pounding pain in her knuckles hadn't been in vain after all. When she finally removed the tile of the floor, the fiery girl exhaled some of her hot breath into the ground and crawled into the sticky tunnel that she had just created.

**x+x+x+x+x**

Flame Princess peeked at the map in her hands and then stared at the tile above her. If she wasn't mistaken, that exit should lead her to the Candy Palace's courtyard. The red-haired girl shoved the map into her robe's pocket and proceeded to push herself upwards, sliding the tile away to pop out of the ground.

Blinking nervously, the fiery princess studied her new surroundings. The fresh breeze of the night never filled her lungs and there weren't any stars above to light her dull eyes. Four yellow walls made of candy bricks and an intermittent light bulb on the ceiling welcomed her to a new cell. Well, she never learned to read a map in her life, in fact Finn had said that he would teach once…too bad he never had the chance.

"You gotta be kidding me…" Flame Princess sighed in frustration.

"Oh look!" a shrilling voice cried behind her "After weeks of hunger the promised food has finally arrived!"

"Yes. My hungry eyes can see that, we shall rejoice and sing, for Mother Princess has finally sent us a candy person to eat!" a similar voice replied "Let us ingest this little fella the whole night and fill the emptiness of our stomachs!"

Flame Princess turned around and met the two strangers behind her. They looked identical with their lemon-shaped heads and their long pointy noses; even their suits were alike, except that one was dressed in black and the other in white. The girl closed her mouth, which she had opened in astonishment without even realizing it and stood up to face the twins directly.

"You're talking about me?" she asked, "I'm the food?"

"Yes! You must be the food!" the one in white proclaimed.

"Fulfill your destiny and get inside our tummies!" the lemon in black added.

"That's bunk! I'm not even made of candy!" Flame Princess yelled with a frown.

The two lemon-heads circled around her, analyzing her body from head to toes until they decided to stop. Each of them stood at her side, raising their index fingers in curiosity. They began to poke her arms afterwards.

"Okay! Quit it, will ya?!" the girl shrieked in annoyance.

"The pokes confirm that she is no candy…" the one in black said.

"No food?" the one in white inquired.

"No food…"

.

.

.

**"HNNGHNYAAAHHH!" "UNACCEPTAAHHBLEEE!"**

Flame Princess spotted a Banana guard approaching out of the corner of her eye through the cell bars and threw her body over the two lemons, covering their mouths with her hands tightly. They struggled to free themselves from her fierce grasp, but she managed to keep them quiet until the guard walked away.

"Phew… that was a close one!" the young princess whispered in relief "You two are very noisy, did you know that?"

"Lemon style." The lemon with the white suit said.

"Yes." His twin replied.

Flame Princess rolled her eyes and stepped towards the hole on the floor "Well, I don't feel like messing with your 'Lemon style' so… Yeah, I should go now. You know…continue with my escape plan…"

"If you must." The one in white said.

"Wait!" the other one gasped "Escape plan, you said?! You know the way out of the dungeon?!"

"Well, I have this map…" Flame Princess answered.

The two lemons stared at each other, holding their shoulders in joy "Lemongrab, that means that we can finally find our lemon children and punish Mother Princess for taking them as slaves for her 'plan'!"

"Yes, Lemongrab! Let us sail away from this dungeon! Let us save what is ours! Let us—! Hey! Where'd she go?"

The Lemongrabs peeked inside the hole and stared awkwardly at Flame Princess as she made her way out of the cell.

"Huh? What's the matter?" she asked innocently.

"Let us go with you!" the two shouted.

"Sorry, but I'm on a very important mission… I can't—…"

"HNNNGHHH…!" the Lemongrabs screeched angrily.

"Alright, alright!" Flame Princess agreed "Guess I can't do this on my own…" she looked back at them and smiled "The name's Fl—… Red Jay…!"

"I'm Lemongrab, hmm!" the one in black said.

"And I'm Lemongrab, hmmm!" his twin added.

"…Okaaay… Well, nice to meet you Lemongrab…and Lemongrab…"

"Umm… Maybe we should get you nicknames as well…"

**x+x+x+x+x**

Two shadows were seen discussing with each other in alley near the Candy Tavern. One of them was extremely short and his shape resembled a heart while the other was much taller than him and had a flower on the top of his head. This one seemed to be incredibly nervous in comparison with the first one.

"Hehehe, here's the money I promised!" the small one chuckled viciously "Everything's going just as planned and its all thanks to you! The princesses are under_** her** _command because of the One Gem that the human boy got for us, and soon**_ she_** will let me keep Princess Bubblegum for myself…!"

"Dude, please… Take that dirty money away from me, I hate what I've done…!" the tall one cried "Mommy won't be proud of me, but I had to do it to keep my son safe… just… leave me alone…!"

"Hahaha, whatever! Here, take the money anyway! Soon, I, the Great Ricardio shall obtain my vengeance and that makes me awfully happy~!"

Ricardio left the lonely alley skipping like a five-year-old girl as he sang:

_"In the Land of Ooo where the princesses lie_

_One Gem to rule them all, One Gem to find them,_

_One Gem to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them_

_In the Land of Ooo where the heroes die~"_

**_To be continued…_**

* * *

**_Author's Notes:_**

Giant reference to the Lord of the Rings there, sorry I'm a big fan of that series and I couldn't help myself. I hope you have enjoyed the first part of this 'Two-shots' fanfic. You recognized the guy in the cover? Well I was wondering why hasn't anyone included him in a fic yet, since him along with many other fabulous characters like the Lemongrabs are so hilarious and interesting at the same time. Just imagine what this Ancient Magi can do with his powers, the possibilities are endless and yet, I think that I'm the only one including him in a fic... Anyway, I was, you know, experimenting with this new character that season 5 brought to us, soon you will see the disaster that he and his powers have created in the second part of this short fic.

See you soon!


	2. II: Discretion at the Bar

**The Art of Giving and Taking…Lives**

**II: Discretion at the Bar**

Finding their way out of the Candy Palace was everything but an easy task for them. They had to crawl for more than five hours in the darkness, guided only by Flame Princess' light and the mysterious map that Peppermint Butler, A.K.A. Zebrahead, had given her. On top of that, the gooey mass of melted peanut butter caramel that the flaming princess was leaving behind her made it almost impossible to advance at a useful speed. Besides, the sticky sensation that the caramel left on their fingers was barely tolerable.

When they finally made it out, Flame Princess and the Earls were covered in a sweet, sugary plaster of pink candy. Anyone would easily mistake them with the rest of the candy citizens, however, the three were already sick of tasting, smelling and touching caramel. In the end, they decided to wash themselves and hide beneath their hooded-cloaks. Flame Princess used the silver robe that Peppermint Butler gave her and the two lemons "borrowed" a pair of dark-blue hoods from a convenience store. Now all that they had to do was to meet the so-called "Soul Crusher" at the Candy Tavern and they would be one step closer to crack the mystery of the malevolent princesses and the vanished Finn.

As they approached the seedy streets of the Candy Kingdom's back alley, a loud row broke the deadly silence around them, indicating that they had arrived to the only area of the sugary kingdom that the once benevolent Princess Bubblegum hadn't still been able to tame. Vicious chuckles, laughter and raspy voices along with the rotten sound of some misplayed notes, formed the chaotic chorus that echoed through the broken windows of the Candy Tavern.

"This is the place." The Lemongrab in the white suit announced "That is, if my lemon memory doesn't betray me."

"All right!" Flame Princess replied as she raised her clenched fist "Let's go burn some butts!"

"Hold it there, Red Jay!" the other Lemongrab exclaimed, using his arm to block Flame Princess' way "There's a warning sign on the wall! That is, if my lemon eyes haven't betrayed me."

The young princess furrowed her brow impatiently, why couldn't they just bash in and smash everyone out of their way once and for all? Sure, there was a piece of paper on the wall with some warning written on it, but that wouldn't stop her, would it? Then she remembered that they weren't playing some sort of game, Finn's life was in danger as well as many others. She'll have to control herself as well as her burning instincts.

"Okay… So, what does that warning say?" the princess managed to whisper after exhaling a deep sigh.

"It says: _'Only evil princesses are allowed to come in for the Grand Meeting's after-party. However, rebels like Flame Princess shall be destroyed if they dare to show their faces around here. Thank you.'_ Huh…? The paper thanked me…" the original Lemongrab blinked "Now what?"

Flame Princess crossed her arms and inspected the other streets and alleys around her. Soon, her gleaming eyes spotted some fluffy candy cotton scraps within one of the stinky trash containers behind them. The sweet white fluff seemed to be in a very poor condition and some flies flew above it, hoping to get a bite from its cotton-like remains.

"I might have an idea…" the red-haired girl smirked.

**x~x~x~x~x**

The sound of a knocking door somehow made its way into the noisy bar, alerting a couple of Banana guards as they were keeping an eye on the outgoing meeting of drunk bandits, thieves and other sorts of social scum. One of the guards sighed and elbowed his partner.

"Who dares to–? Huh?!" the banana mumbled short after opening the tavern's door.

Before him stood a very particular sight, it was a group of stinky cotton candy foreigners. They were a pair of tall cotton men, hiding their faces beneath their hoods and a short girl wearing what seemed to be a trashy crown on top of her reddish bangs. A cotton candy cape covered her shoulders and her face was hidden under a hood as well.

The Banana guards remained silent before exchanging a couple of confused glances and then stared back at the group of strangers. "Um… and you are…?" the guards asked.

"What kind of question is that?" one of the hooded men cried in disbelief.

"It's obvious that these two are nothing but ignorant peasants!" the other one added.

Sweat dripped from the guards' foreheads as they stared at each other nervously in search of an answer. "We are sorry… A-are you important people? Royals? D-diplomats?"

"Humph! Diplomats?" the two mysterious men snorted, "This is Princess 'Dust Bunny' of the 'Couch Kingdom'! She is Princess Bubblegum's youngest and closest cousin!"

Flame Princess turned her head away in an indignant manner as she crossed her arms with anger.

"Behold!" Lemongrab moaned, "Now you've made it! The princess is mad! Maaaaaaad….!"

"Oh Grod!" one of the guards gasped worriedly and then proceeded to smack his partner's cheek "Look what you've done! She's the princess' cousin and now we're gonna be in trouble!"

"Please forgive me, Princess Dust Bunny, I should have known who you were. P-please, come in! You're welcome!" the other one said.

"Of course I am…!" Flame Princess muttered as she passed them by, followed by the two lemons.

"Humph!" Lemongrab snorted.

"Humph!" his clone added.

Once inside, the infiltrated trio proceeded to make their way towards the counter along the crowded and chaotic tables of the Candy Tavern. They scurried cautiously, avoiding the people's stares and trying to keep a low profile for as long as a pair of psychotic lemons and a fire elemental could. The group managed to reach the other side of the establishment without any problem, being this something that Flame Princess thanked with a soft sigh as she hopped over a stool and joined the Lemongrabs at the counter.

"Now what?" the original Lemongrab asked.

"Well… now we need to–…"

"Here for a dive fellas?" the bartender interrupted. He quickly filled three mugs with some kind of sweet alcoholic beverage and slid them across the counter without shedding a single drop of it.

Flame Princess noticed a weird look on the bartender's face, it was as if he were waiting for her to gulp the entire mug just as the Lemongrabs did a few seconds ago. She bit her lower lip nervously and then stared back at the green candy citizen before her.

"Are ya gonna drink that or what?"

"I'm… I'm not old enough to drink this…" the young princess answered, causing the bartender to smash the counter with his fist as he laughed strenuously.

"Hehehe… 'Not old enough'… Now that's a good joke, Princess!" he brushed a tear off his eye "We are livin' times of freedom now, you can do everything you want and break as much rules as you can! C'mon, everybody knows it, especially a princess _like you_… Don't ya?"

A suspicious air in the bartender's voice caused our flaming princess to reply affirmatively with a nervous chuckle and then chug the cold mug without even thinking. Soon a combination of alcoholic heat and the coldness of the beverage burned her throat, leading the red-haired girl to spill the liquid on the bartender's face so that she could choke and cough more comfortably.

"Sorry… I don't usually drink–…" Flame Princess quickly shook her head and corrected herself "I mean… erm… Yeah! How 'bout some beer to yer face! That's how I do… whatever I want to do…!"

"Congratulations…" the bartender growled, cleaning his face "So… Dust Bunny Princess (if that's your real name) are you here for the _meeting…?"_

The girl in question tightened her jaw "I'm here for a meeting, yeah…" she furrowed her eyebrows as she glanced at him in a cagey way "But actually, I'm looking for a friend of mine. He responds to the name of 'Soul Crusher'. He must be hanging somewhere around here…"

"Soul Crusher, huh? So you're one of them… I see…" the bartender murmured silently as he stroke his chin "He's waiting for you at the wine cellar, right behind this door on my left."

"_Glob… Does he know? Is this some kind of trap…?" _Flame Princess wondered while searching for some advice from her two companions. Unfortunately the lemons had left their seats and were now involved on a rude game of poker with the other clients. Apparently, they had enjoyed a large amount of drinks while she was discussing with the barman, and now they were…drunk.

Not knowing what else to do, the young princess sighed and decided to take a risk _"For Finn…"_ she whispered as she nodded in a slow motion. "All right. I'll go in. Thanks."

"Hey!" the bartender called, grasping her forearm all of a sudden "It's all up to you now, Red Jay…" he said after letting go of her, and then made a mysterious sign with his hand as he whispered "Never forget it… _P.L."_

"Right." Flame Princess gulped _"What on earth does P.L. stands for?"_

**x~x~x~x~x**

"Um… Hello?" the fiery girl murmured cautiously, keeping all her senses in a state of alert "S-soul Crusher…? Are you really here? It's Flam–… Red Jay."

It took her a while to notice a figure moving in the darkness as she squinted her eyes in a poor attempt to get a better look of her surroundings _"Gosh, I'm so dumb!" _the princess muttered mentally, making her flames grow brighter. "Soul Crusher, show yourself!"

"Wenk!" someone cried at the end of the room, and Flame Princess saw him. He was short and chubby, rather cute penguin, sitting at a small round table. Some old dusty barrels and a bunch colorful glass bottles appeared before the princess as her fire lighted her surroundings. So, Soul Crusher was just a penguin? How was he supposed to help her?

"Are you sure you are the Soul Crusher?" Flame Princess asked for the fifth time since they met.

"Wenk!" the penguin growled, waving his flippers in exasperation.

"But how can you–?" She was about to complain when a bright flash of green fire hit her eyes. She covered her face with her arm until the powerful light vanished and then sighed in relief.

Peppermint Butler had arrived and he had brought somebody else with him. It was a weird creature with a furry head and cat-like eyes. He was wearing a purple wizard tunic, kitchen mitts, and for some reason, a flower had sprouted on the top of his head. Though, Flame Princess felt more curious towards his kitchen mitts than towards the mysterious flower growing right above his face. That meant that they had something in common.

"I'm glad to see that you made it this far, Red Jay!" the butler said.

"Thanks to you and a bunch of luck…" she sighed exhaustedly. It had been a really long day full of mystery and weird challenges. "Who's your friend?"

"This is the man responsible for all this mess!" Peppermint Butler explained, "He's the Magi of Life Giving!"

"Please, I beg you!" the magi cried as he knelt before Flame Princess in desperation "Don't judge me… I was forced to do it… It was the heart guy! He's behind it all!"

"Can you prove it?" the mint-flavored candy demanded.

"Y-yeah! M-my son! My son will tell ya!" the Magi replied while he rummaged inside his tunic "The heart guy kidnapped him and made me do it! What would you have done in my place?" the wizard mumbled, staring at Flame Princess with sadness and fear in his glowing eyes.

"I…" she whispered "W-what did you get yourself into?" she asked instead, realizing that she was afraid of answering that.

"Nothing! The heart guy used his powers against his will!" a new voice replied.

Flame Princess' heart almost jumped out of her chest. Finn's bear hat was now standing at her feet, and it could talk!

"W-what…? But how?!" she barely managed to ask.

"This guy has the power to give life to whatever he wants just by touching it with his bare hands. However, the alignment of those things touched by him is heavily influenced by his emotions!" Peppermint explained "And he brought _her_ to life during a moment of desperation!"

"What the math are you guys talking about?" Flame Princess demanded, not being able to handle her confusion anymore.

"It's an evil object with terrible, terrible powers…" Finn's hat answered gravely "Dark, terrible magic…"

"The Ice King's crown…" Peppermint Butler declared, smashing his fist against his open palm "I knew it!" That's how he's controlling the princesses! We must stop this! Now!"

"Hold on! What does an evil crown has to do with Finn?"

"I don't know Red Jay," the butler lamented "But if you really want to rescue him, you'll have to face Ricardio and the power of the crown…"

Flame Princess clenched her fist and made a determined step forward; throwing sparks as her flames grew larger "Fine. Just to tell me where to find 'em and I'll end this quickly!"

"Not so fast!" Peppermint warned, "Ricardio is a wimp, but the power of crown can't be taken so lightly. Who knows what will he be capable of with that cursed thing on his side…"

"Wenk!"

"Yes, Gunther… I almost forgot about you!" the small piece of candy turned back to the flaring princess and smiled "Thankfully, this little guy here knows a thing or two about that crown, right?"

"Wenk!"

"What do you mean you don't?!"

"Wenk!"

"Oh, so you know someone that does know?"

"Wenk!"

"What? The Vampire Queen might have an answer, but she's gone?!" Peppermint Butler exclaimed, ignoring the confused stares around him "Where'd she go, huh?"

"Wenk!"

"What? You have no idea!?"

"Wenk!"

"Relax? How can I relax when–?!"

"Wenk!" Gunter hopped off his chair and waddled towards Flame Princess. Then he waved his flippers and announced "Wenk!"

"What did he say?" the princess demanded curiously.

"He said_ 'Gunter has the answer', _but I don't get it… Are you the wrong penguin then?"

"Wenk!" Gunther replied as he shook his head, and then repeated "Wenk! (Gunter has the answer)"

"Okay… this isn't helping at all, but it's the only clue we've got…" the butler sighed tiredly "My suggestion is to search for the Vampire Queen's whereabouts as she shares some sort of bond with the true master of the crown."

"You think she knows how to defeat the crown?" Flame Princess asked, arching an eyebrow."

"I don't know, but now that the Crown has a life of its own, Miss Marceline must mean bad news for it… Just like our sign…" a dark smirk crossed the butler's features "We should scare that Crown a little, shouldn't we? We should let her know that before she takes over Ooo, she'll have fight us first… We should ignite the night sky with our sign…"

"I'll ignite anything, if that means bringing Finn back!" Flame Princess assured energetically, causing Peppermint Butler to smile.

"Then you shall use your flames to write this on the heavens: '_P.L.'" _

"And what does that mean?" the fire girl inquired, feeling drastically tense as time passed them by.

"It's our declaration of war to that accursed crown…"

**x~x~x~x~x**

Thus, a flaring message shone before the face of the stars that night…

It was a warning, an invitation to battle, and a threat for the Crown…

"Petrikov Lives…"

* * *

**Author Note's:**

SCIK, update "The Awakening of Heroes!" **Please!**

SCIK, update "Tales of the Alternate Universe: Amaranth" **Please!**

SCIK, come back **Please!**

SCIK, **Have dinner with me!**

I know it's been a while guys, but I promise that I will do everything on that list, really! I just need some free time. Actually, I don't have much of that now, I just found this chapter (Really, like two minutes ago) on my files and somehow I forgot that it was almost finished. So I gave it the final touch and then uploaded it. (Hope you like it by the way) Good news are that my other fics are also on development, even my version of 'Vault of Bones' for 'Through Her Burning Gaze' is half-done, I just forgot about that progress because I'm so freaking busy! I shouldn't be here right now, I should be working on my Design homework that's for Wednesday (or maybe I should just go to bed now... God), but since this chapter was miraculously finished when I stumbled onto it, I just couldn't resist.

Anyhow, that list up there is now my pending list as well as reading some awesome fics that have been updated recently: TheJamjam's 'Fiery Embrace' (Which is about to end and I don't know how the hell I'm still not being a part of it) and Odradem's 'Corazón Ardiente' (If you speak Spanish, you'd better read that bad boy :D) I also want to give my special thanks to a special someone that doesn't like to be mentioned for keeping informed about everything that has been going on in the AT world through DP =D

All right, that's all for now! And trust me, I'll be back!


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